1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a customer service apparatus, method and card for providing customers with premiums such as discounts or points by utilizing IC cards, and to a computer readable record medium on which a customer service processing program is recorded. More specifically, it relates to a customer service apparatus, method and card for providing customers with appropriate services corresponding to the degree of contribution of the customers, and to a computer readable record medium having thereon recorded a customer service processing program.
2. Description of the Related Arts
The distribution industry including department stores, supermarkets and shopping districts has been planning ways to increase the sales through advertising activities using newspaper fliers or direct mails to customers or through various customer acquiring activities or customer services such as stamp or point services. With the progress toward diversification in the purchasing activities of the consumers, however, conventional methods are growing less effective year by year. Thus, there is a need for creation of a new customer service achieving a shift from provision of a uniform customer service to provision of a fair service based on the degree of contribution of individual customers. On the other hand, advanced computer systems or electronics equipment and prevailing information networks have made it possible to employ a marketing method analyzing and utilizing the customer data, contributing greatly to an increase of sales. This needs a vast investment in order to build up a large-scale information network including building of a network for collecting customer information, provision of data storage for storing the collected customer data, introduction of a computer system for analyzing the customer data, securement of a flexible physical distribution system for realizing a rich assortment of goods corresponding to the analyzed customer data.
Such a conventional customer service was uniform and inflexible, making it hard to take measures depending on the degree of contribution. This allows the same service to be provided to unfamiliar customers as well, preventing customers from being rewarded with a return of money due to his/her large purchase amount and purchases frequency. In a case of an advertisement with a coupon of newspaper or fliers out of which the coupon is cut and carried to accept a service, the value is instantly returned to only the customer carrying the coupon, which may be cumbersome. Furthermore, increased usage of a magnetic card or the like has allowed initiation of a service for returning a profit in response to the degree of contribution. However, a uniform return of value is effected in such a manner that for example a 5% of discount rate is imparted to the total purchase amount. This makes it difficult to achieve a return corresponding to the commodity characteristics presenting different profits, which tends to increase costs to. Furthermore, to provide a service depending on the degree of contribution, the rate of may be set to several stages in accordance with the total purchase amount. The discount rate for example may be set such that 3% is given for less than .Yen.200,000, 5% for .Yen.200,000 or more and less than .Yen.500,000, 7% for .Yen.500,000 or more and less than .Yen.1,000,000 and 10% for .Yen.1,000,000 or more. However, this allows by no means a return corresponding to the commodity characteristics presenting different profits. In addition, the return of profits is made based on the results of the previous year for example of the total purchase amount which is an criterion of the degree of contribution, which may adversely affect the profit since the same level of purchase is not necessarily ensured in the current year. From a viewpoint of users, points acquired as a return of money spent are usable at a limited number of places by a limited number of persons, thereby preventing users from receiving the full benefit of the acquired points.